


Wayward

by wraven (nataeiy1)



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Natsume Takashi Protection Squad, Natsume Takashi's Terrible Childhood, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Touch-Starved Natsume Takashi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25063744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nataeiy1/pseuds/wraven
Summary: Sasada says they're being stupid, that this kid is probably just a child from a nearby town.I'll bet theyarea spirit," Sacchan says stubbornly, even though he'd insisted to Atsushi that the kid was human and he wasn't gonna get eaten, stupid Acchan! "But I'm gonna make friends with 'em anyway!"
Relationships: Kitamoto Atsushi & Natsume Takashi, Natsume Takashi & Nishimura Satoru
Comments: 9
Kudos: 205





	1. Changeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's been years," Sasada complains. "If you'd put this much effort into your school work, you wouldn't have such terrible grades!"
> 
> "School isn't going to make me a cool new friend!"
> 
> "You're such a child!"

"I'm gonna talk to them today!" Nishimura declares. "I'm gonna find out their name!"

It's not the first time he's said this. Usually he doesn't even find them. He goes home dejected, and on the days Atsushi goes with him, he buys him a Pakurin-choco and a Pocari to cheer him up.

They've spotted a kid their age living somewhere around Yatsuhara.

They've gone around the various surrounding towns, and met people who have seen the kid, but no one they've talked to seems to know who they are. They were just beginning middle school when they first saw them, and they're getting ready to start high school now. It seems no one else has spotted them as often.

The few other known sightings, besides that of Nishimura and Atsushi, have been brief and from a distance. Most think the kid must be a girl, claiming to have seen them in an elaborate yukata with delicate, flowery hairpins. A few have decided they're actually a boy pretending to be a girl, though none have any legitimate reason for thinking so. One elderly man who hasn't seen them insists that spirits don't concern themselves with gender much. Most sightings have been of those who lose their way in the forest, and have been led back by a white haired child.

They've been dubbed the _child of the spirits_.

Nishimura usually goes searching alone.

"It's been years," Sasada complains. "If you'd put this much effort into your school work, you wouldn't have such terrible grades!"

"School isn't going to make me a cool new friend!"

"You're such a child!"

"Maa," Tsuji interjects, giving Atsushi a look for standing by and watching them bicker.

He grins back.

"Your studies need to be taken seriously," Tsuji says to Nishimura. He turns to Sasada. "But some downtime is necessary too."

Tsuji understands that Nishimura doesn't do well with pressure.

He's hot-headed and loud, so it's easy to respond in kind, but he reacts well to a soft yet firm attitude. Criticism makes him defensive and rebellious, but praise will have him working harder. Kiyoshi used to be good at that, before he began college, when his level of patience dropped and he became more caustic toward his little brother.

Their mother has never been good with Sacchan at all.

Atsushi tries to fill in the gaps as best he can, but it's not really the same. He can't do it by himself. Tsuji helps, though.

"You coming today, Kitamoto?"

"Hmm," Atsushi says, considering. He doesn't like to leave Nishimura alone too often, and he likes it when they spend time together, but he tries not to mother him either.

"After all this time, I want to meet them."

"Right?" Nishimura cries excitedly.

"But," he says, and Nishimura deflates, "I think it's better if you make friends with them first. They're so skittish."

"Yeah, I guess." He pouts, then perks up. "They're like a stray cat! You think if I leave them food, they'll let me closer?"

It's best not to encourage that line of thought, so Atsushi ignores it. "You might not like them, once you meet them." He sincerely hopes not though. Nishimura _really_ wants to be friends with them.

"I'll like them," he insists. "I already do."

  


Despite what his attitude with Sasada might indicate, Satoru is not quite so hopeful.

Kitamoto is right. It'll be easier to get close if it's just one of them. It doesn't make him miss _friend hunting_ together any less.

They're getting closer and closer to adulthood. Kitamoto is steadily taking on more responsibility, caring for his sister and helping out when his dad isn't feeling well.

Satoru, on the other hand, feels stifled. It's less by the things he's expected to do than it is the expectations themselves. And he doesn't like the ugly envy whenever he sees Kitamoto's family, so loving and supportive of each other.

Aunty asks Kitamoto to help out all the time, and sometimes when he's staying over, she'll ask for Satoru's help too. He doesn't know why he finds helping her so much easier than he does helping his own mother.

 _Friend hunting_ had started as something of a game. When Acchan said the kid in the forest looked scared, Satoru had been too slow to realize that this kid is genuinely terrified of them. It was like tag, or hide-and-seek. He should have given up, by now.

But it's like the kid has some kind of warning system or sixth sense. They always know when someone is getting close, no matter how quiet Satoru tries to be.

On the few occasions he does get closer though-

Like now. Their hair is a lot longer than it used to be, and it looks ragged on the ends, like it's never been trimmed or cut. It's held back by a pale green ribbon, matching the plain green of their kimono.

They're so - Satoru tries not to think _pretty_ , because no matter how beautiful they are, there's something that makes him think they aren't a girl.

(But _handsome_ doesn't really fit.)

They look lonely.

Their feet are filthy, and they aren't wearing shoes. If they're used to it, it probably doesn't hurt as much, but they still have to have cut their feet on sharp rocks and brambles, right?

Or do they have shoes that got stolen? Satoru is going to get mad if his (potential) friend is getting bullied.

He wants to ask. He wants to ask so _bad_ , but he knows they'll run before he can even finish speaking.

He creeps a little closer. They still haven't seen him.

There's wet clothes slung over low-hanging tree branches. They're scrubbing at some cloth with one of those really old laundry things, sleeves tied up at their shoulders, crouched over a wooden bucket full of water.

Satoru hates doing laundry with a machine! Is this seriously how they clean their clothes?

"-Keep getting closer," they're murmuring. Their voice is way deeper than Satoru expected.

He grins. A guy!

Honestly, he's little disappointed that someone so pretty isn't a girl, but he's relieved too. He's _terrible_ at talking to girls.

There's a splash, and the boy turns to spot Satoru.

"Hey," he says awkwardly, wishing he'd taken the time to determine what he'd say when they finally spoke.

Miraculously, the boy doesn't bolt.

"I'm Nishimura Satoru?" he tries.

The boy doesn't respond, eyes wide with fear. He appears rooted in place.

That's… not much better than running.

"I'd like to be friends."

He's got a scar on his face. Satoru hadn't seen it from a distance, but now it looks deep and ugly and kinda cool. It stretches from the side of his nose, across his right cheek to under the lobe of his ear, like someone had slowly carved it into his face.

His arms and hands are crisscrossed with scars too, when Satoru looks closer, though none of these are as deep.

He reaches behind him and this prompts the boy to run, slowing only to grab a tattered shoulder bag.

"Wait," he protests weakly. It had taken longer than he'd expected.

Sighing, he leaves the convenience store bento next to the abandoned tub and walks away.

Kitamoto can roll his eyes all he wants, but Satoru can't be the only one who'll be willingly lured in with food.

  


The next morning, there's an empty plastic bento sitting just outside his windowsill. Beside it is a bit of twine woven into a necklace, decorated with pretty glass beads.

_Score._

  


These humans are persistent. Most who see him don't think much of him. Some of the younger ones try to find him, acting on things called "dares" but they can't see his friends who warn him, so it's easy to avoid them until they get bored.

There are three exceptions.

One is obvious. The ongoing cold war between the Dog's Circle and the Matoba exorcist clan is well known by any Yatsuhara dwelling youkai. The Matoba clan head first took an interest in him years ago, when he took issue with the traps they laid to capture unwary ayakashi passing through, so they could later force them into servitude. He's broken many out of the traps before the exorcists could retrieve them, and Matoba Seiji now wants him as a shiki.

He is not okay with that.

There's a strange couple who he helped once. They'd gotten a bit lost while on a walk by going down a path usually hidden to humans, and had stumbled upon a festival, literally.

The woman had sprained her ankle, and once he realized they were human, he led them both out of the forest and carried the woman home.

And then he'd been somewhat aggressively invited to tea. He returns every once in a while, even though it makes him nervous to go into town like that, because for humans, they have been inordinately kind.

They do not seem to mind how strange he is. It's refreshing.

And then there's - Nishimura, he'd called himself. Like Matoba, he'd been hunting him for years, but he's not an exorcist, and only seems to want to be… friends?

It's weird, because even the local youkai have gotten used to him trampling loudly through the forest, and hardly anyone ever talks of eating him anymore.

Or maybe that's just because they've gotten used to _him_ , refusing to let the spirits eat the humans lost amongst the trees.

Maybe he can give in, just for a little while. Nyanko-sensei tells him to leave the humans alone, never mind that _he_ has a soft spot for lost children and has led them home on multiple occasions. Hinoe reluctantly encourages him though, suggesting he ignore everything the "pig-cat" says and make friends.

It won't last long anyway. It never does. Nishimura will see how strange he is and pull away.

But he does not seem the type to become violent. For a little bit, maybe he can have a human friend.


	2. Intention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please tell me he isn't a spirit that might eat me."
> 
> "No!" he squawks.
> 
> He doesn't think so, anyway.

Satoru slams his hands on Kitamoto's desk.

" _Please_ tell me you can come to Yatsuhara with me today."

"I don't have anything going on," Kitamoto says, scribbling on his worksheet without looking up.

Ugh, _homework_.

"Why?"

Kitamoto is expecting him to say, "Friend hunting, of course!" In this case, Satoru is _delighted_ to disappoint.

"Natsume said he'd like to meet you, since I talk about you so much." He leans against the desk, casual as anything.

Confusion leads Kitamoto to finally looking at him. "Natsume?" His eyes go wide. "No way."

Satoru grins manically. "Yes way! I've been feeding him-" He happily ignores Kitamoto's groan of dismay. "-And he's been letting me get closer. I finally cornered him when he was helping out a bird with an injured wing, and he wasn't willing to risk hurting the bird by running away. He let me help!"

"I can't believe it," Kitamoto says faintly.

Which is fair. It's been over two years.

"He's really a guy?"

Why do so many people seem focused on that? Just because Satoru has trouble talking to girls, and it probably wouldn't have gone as well-

(He’s known Sasada since they were brats. She doesn’t count.)

"You mean, because he's unfairly pretty?"

Kitamoto smirks. "Don't be jealous."

"I'm not jealous!"

"Sure, sure." Kitamoto fends off his playful jabs to the ribs. "I'll go with you, Sacchan. I'd like to finally meet him."

Satoru falters. "Just, uh. Be careful. He's kinda…"

"Please tell me he isn't a spirit that might eat me."

"No!" he squawks.

He doesn't think so, anyway.

Natsume is just… _frail_ isn't right, though he looks it when he isn't daringly free climbing the side of a cliff to retrieve a young girl's hat blown away by the wind, or scaling trees to hide in the branches, or sprinting and jumping through the woods, barely hindered by the trees and boulders in the way.

He's stronger and more capable than he appears, and Satoru can't keep up with him.

"He's still really wary of people. I don't think he does a lot of- uh… socializing?"

The animals don't count. A bit of singing and he could be a decent Snow White.

Can Natsume sing?

He's probably either really good at it, or really, really bad.

Satoru wants to find out.

That can come later though. Kitamoto is giving him a weird look.

"Just try not to startle him, okay?"

"Okay." Kitamoto smiles. "I'm glad."

"For what?"

"Nothing, nothing~."

" _Ki-ta-mo-to-_ "

  


Touko giggles as Nyankichi pounces on the colorful feather. For such a round cat, he's rather spry.

"More tea, Natsume-kun?"

She carefully doesn't wince as he jumps to his feet and whirls around, brandishing the cat toy like he plans to smack her with it. She tries not to startle him like that.

"Thank you," he murmurs as she refills his cup, settling back into seiza with shoulders hunched in embarrassment.

She wishes she were a little younger still, or simply a bit athletic. Natsume-kun seems so much calmer among the trees of the forest than he does in town, and it would be wonderful if she could visit him there.

She considers it a miracle that he'd once helped her carry groceries when she'd bought a bit too much; he'd sprung from the leaves onto the pathway in front of her after she'd dropped something for the eighth time, to offer his help, and then seemed out of sorts the entire way, and shied away from anyone they passed.

The closest neighbors have gotten used to him, but she's fairly certain few others in the neighborhood have even spotted him. Word of him would surely be getting around more quickly otherwise, with his unique coloring.

She's glad they aren't talking too much though. She fears he would disappear if his limits were pushed too much.

"Are you staying for dinner tonight, Natsume-kun?"

He isn't, she already knows. He wouldn't have shown up so early if he'd planned to stay late, and he would have brought something with him, like fresh fish or vegetables, or hard to find herbs, or, once when Touko had begun feeling under the weather, an entire basket of maitake mushrooms. Sometimes she finds these things sitting on her doorstep, no matter how many times she tells him to knock and come in when he stops by.

"I-I'm…"

She blinks at him.

"…meeting with a friend," he mumbles, ducking his head, "when he's done with school for the day."

Natsume-kun doesn't go to school. He lives with his "Sensei" at a temple high up on the mountain, and though he isn't confined there, he mostly keeps to the nearby forests.

She'd gotten the impression that he might be a bit sickly, getting dizzy with anemia whenever he goes too long without eating, but she thinks there's more to him not attending school. It's not as though he's in any way immobile.

Sometimes she wonders if he really is a spirit, like people say.

"That's wonderful," she gushes, and it _is_. The idea that he is spending time with other people, especially someone closer to his age, thrills her so much that she insists on sending him away with plenty of homemade snacks for them to munch on.

She bulldozes over his protests with glee, and heats up some leftover soup to put in a thermos so they'll have something warm and hearty to eat. She's even happier to hear that she has three to feed.

He's _voluntarily_ spending time with people!

In the end, she has to lend him a satchel to carry it all, because his is barely big enough to carry more than an old book with a green cover.

"Hurry, Natsume-kun! School is already over by now, and you don't want to be late meeting your friend, do you?"

He clutches his cat to his chest as she all but shoves him out the door.

"You'll come tomorrow, won't you?" she demands. "You can tell me all about how it goes then."

He stares at her like he's never seen anything like her before. It's not an unfamiliar expression.

"Okay," he says.

His smile lights up his whole face.

  


Takashi scares Nishimura and his friend by dropping out of a tree to land in between their argument, but aside from that, it goes well. Much better than he was expecting.

Nishimura exclaims over his tengu-geta and clean feet ("You're actually wearing shoes! Man, you really like traditional stuff, huh?") and Takeshi watches him bicker with Kitamoto at every little thing.

They visit a supposedly haunted shrine (it's not, as far as Takashi can tell) and have dinner in a giant, colorful field of flowers hidden in a thicket (" _Fujiwara_ Touko-san made this? All the ladies in my neighborhood are jealous of her skill with food!") and take shelter in a shallow cave when a short, unexpected shower opens up from the sky above. He walks them back further than the forest, but declines going into town.

He begins the long trek back home, assuring them that Sensei would meet up with him shortly, and that he wouldn't be walking home alone. That's usually what happens, or Misuzu or Hinoe or Benio will find him instead, since he can't fly like they can and won't be fast enough to reach home on his own before it gets too dark to see. And if not, he can always try to find a friendly, sleepy youkai to bunker down and keep warm with for the night.

He's had a good day, and made some good friends, he has some good things to tell Touko-san tomorrow.

He doesn’t know how long this will last, but he already doesn’t want it to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, it felt so weird with Touko calling him "Natsume-kun"
> 
> I still remember Nishimura trying to introduce himself to Taki. I cannot forget that embarrassment.


	3. Perception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nishimura stares solemnly. As glad as Atsushi is that Natsume seems to like them, the mood has become rather gloomy.
> 
> Fortunately, Nishimura is a moron.
> 
> "So you don't want to eat us?"
> 
> Natsume looks at him, shocked.
> 
> "No?"
> 
> "No!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some ptsd

"Why do you hang out with animals all the time?"

Natsume hunches his shoulders and ducks his head and- shoot. Atsushi didn't mean to be mean about it.

Satoru glares at him, silently demanding he take it back.

"It's not a bad thing!" he says hastily. "You're really good with animals! Just… You're a lot of fun to be with, and you could have a lot of friends if you went to our school. I was wondering if there was a reason you don't like going into town."

Natsume peers forward, arms curled loosely around his knees. He seems like he's far away, and Atsushi concludes that he isn't going to answer.

He regrets asking.

Nishimura is glancing around for a change in subject, just as lost.

"-do-ma-s"

They look at Natsume, who hasn't moved.

"What?"

"…I don't like humans."

They glance at each other, not sure how to respond to that.

Nishimura asks quietly, "do you hate us?"

Shit.

Atsushi _really_ wishes he hadn't asked.

Natsume takes another long moment to reply. "I run away suddenly and don't come back. I do weird things and you don't demand an explanation. Somehow, you still haven't gotten tired of me."

Atsushi sees his alarm mirrored in Sacchan's eyes.

"Humans always seem very kind, but when they are inconvenienced, they show what they are really like. You haven't gotten upset with me."

He heaves a sigh.

"I don't hate you."

Nishimura stares solemnly. As glad as Atsushi is that Natsume seems to like them, the mood has become rather gloomy.

Fortunately, Nishimura is a moron.

"So you don't want to eat us?"

Natsume looks at him, shocked.

Atsushi feels his face turning red, remembering the things he'd accused Natsume of long before they actually met.

"No?"

"No!"

Nishimura laughs and swings an arm around Natsume's shoulder, ruffles his hair.

"Well that's alright then! We’ll be friends for a long time."

  


They try talking about it later, when it's just the two of them, but they don't know what to say.

More than ever, Atsushi considers that Natsume might not be human. There are a lot of things that point to it, most specifically his appearance, but that could be explained by being partly of non-Japanese descent. He's grown with them too, having been younger the first time they saw him.

But there's also that he claims he lives at the top of the mountain, and somehow makes it home every night despite there being no roads going up that high to allow for car travel, and the way the wind dances around him sometimes, as though it's alive.

Atsushi guesses Sacchan is right though. It doesn't really matter.

Natsume is their friend.

One Nishimura is becoming increasingly protective of. The more they find out about Natsume, the more they worry about him. There's something fragile about him, something that doesn't have anything to do with getting dizzy when he doesn't eat enough.

Atsushi is terrified that one day, one of them is going to say something or do something that will hurt Natsume. That even if they didn't mean it, he will disappear and they won't see him again.

  


It's a few days later that they realize they misunderstood.

(In hindsight, it makes sense. He's kind and soft-hearted and makes such an effort to be gentle. He leads those lost out of the woods to safety, even when he refuses to leave the cover of the trees. People spanning across all the nearby towns have stories about him, and none of those stories present him as cruel or resentful.)

Natsume agrees to go to a festival with them. People will be wearing kimono and masks, so he won't stand out so much.

They meet up down the road before the sun has set and arrive as vendors are still setting up. There aren't a lot of people there yet - which is the point. Atsushi and Nishimura are ready to leave the moment Natsume shows any discomfort.

They just want Natsume to enjoy his time with them.

Thankfully, he seems to be enjoying himself.

"Look at that one, Natsume!" Nishimura crowds close and jabs his finger insistently at a particularly hideous dog mask.

"I kinda want that one," Atsushi says, half joking.

"Ehh? No way! Natsume, which one do you want?"

"I don't need one."

Nishimura scowls fiercely at him. Natsume smiles back, and smoothly plucks a kitsune mask from his sleeve, pulls it on and then situates it so it's half on the side of his head. It makes him look particularly spirit-like.

"You brought your own?" Nishimura demands, already running his fingers over the curves and edges of the mask. "It's really well made."

Natsume shivers, and Atsushi is struck with an uneasy thought.

They haven't asked, and they aren't sure if Natsume would tell them the truth if they did. There are times in the daylight, when they roughhouse or make stupid bets and take stupid dares, that the idea of Natsume being - a youkai, or something, is ridiculous.

There are other times, though, that his hair glows a little too bright in the moonlight, or seems to see things they can't, or that he talks about humans like he isn't one.

When Natsume shivers, Atsushi wonders if he can feel the touch on the mask, if Nishimura is essentially groping his face, and, if that's true, is it weird or taboo or intimate to do so?

Natsume looks a little pink, but he doesn't seem to mind. If anything, he appears pleased.

The peace lasts longer than they expected.

Atsushi and Nishimura are arguing over what to buy Natsume. They'd planned on splitting the cost for a mask, but that was before they knew he had one already.

He's given them both little trinkets. Necklaces or bracelets mostly, laced with little beads and bobbles meant to protect them or keep them from getting lost when they go to visit him. The things they can buy here won't be handmade, but they want to give him some kind of token.

All the things he has - the more elaborate kimono, the green book he carries around and won't let anyone else near, the pretty hair pins and even the mask - they all have some kind of sentiment attached, and most were gifts.

They don't have the funds to buy anything more personal, and they don't have the skill to make anything, but… it's something, right?

He chooses a metal hair clip. Natsume usually keeps his hair up with pins, but when he is doing chores or running around, the shorter strands of hair will fall around his face. Atsushi doesn't see what Nishimura selects.

There's a clatter and a crash, and they turn around to see Natsume on his knees, white-faced and trembling, frantically trying to pick up the pieces of something shattered on the ground in front of a pottery table.

"-Should be more careful," a large man is saying with disapproval as Atsushi starts forward.

"It wasn't _his_ fault!" the vendor snaps. "You're the one who needs to watch out. He was doing fine until you ran into him!"

"It was an accident!" The man takes a step forward.

Natsume scrambles back.

The man and the vendor gawk, startled.

"Hey," the man says, apologetic.

Natsume is already gone.

"We'll never catch up," Atsushi complains frantically, but Nishimura is shoving his things in Atsushi's arms, unpanicked and determined. "Nishimura!"

"I'll find him!" he calls back.

Atsushi watches him disappear into the forest, hoping against hope that neither of them will trip and break an ankle.

  


It's cold.

There are no monsters here. They don't like to come here, for some reason, so the apartment is safe from them.

Sometimes, though, it's safer outside. He can run outside, and hide from the things that want to kill him.

Takashi can't hide here.

"You just…" His uncle shakes his head like he's trying to get something to fall out. "You should have been quiet. Then I wouldn't have to do this."

He tries to breathe. It hurts.

"Why can't you just _do what you're supposed to?_ "

He doesn't struggle at the pressure on his throat. It's hardly the first time.

It's so cold.

There's a horrible stitch in his side that grows with every inhale. His left foot has gone numb.

"Why do you have to be such a burden?" Uncle starts to cry, hunched over Takashi. His breath is strong with the stench of sake and vomit.

He's used to that too.

He doesn't know how to deal with the pain, though. It's never been this bad before.

Something cold touches his cheek. Takashi flinches, but the hand slides up to grip his jaw.

"I'll make you better," Uncle says. "I'll make it _all_ better."

  


"Sit him down there."

Touko moves with hurried efficiency, even flustered as she is. She begins bandaging Natsume-kun's hands.

"Some pottery shattered," Satoru-kun had informed them vaguely.

"I'm sorry," Natsume-kun whispers.

"What for?" Shigeru murmurs back, standing to the side without much to do at the moment.

"My feet," Natsume-kun says. "They're dirty."

They are, smeared with mud and dirt and possibly blood. It'll be impossible to tell how injured they might be. Shigeru pretends he isn't apologizing for getting a bit of dirt on their easy-to-clean wood floors and goes to fetch something to clean them.

"Natsume regularly goes without shoes," Atsushi-kun exclaims. "What's your excuse, Nishimura?"

"My Zōri strap broke," Satoru-kun says sheepishly as Shigeru places a small tub of warm water by his feet and wipes them down with a soft wet towel. The skin is pretty scraped up. Atsushi-kun had made him sit down as soon as Natsume-kun was situated. "I didn't have time to pick them up or fix them, so I just left them behind."

"Your mom will get mad," Atsushi-kun laments. "We'll have to go find them after school tomorrow."

Shigeru has been thinking of turning in early when there was a knock at the door. It was a relaxing, peaceful night, and as much as he was enjoying it, the quiet lulled him closer to sleep.

He'd gotten a figurative splash of cold water to the face when he opened the door.

Two boys he recognized as living nearby stood anxiously in front of him, Natsume-kun huddled between them.

They all looked like they'd been through hell.

They still do, but Atsushi-kun and Satoru-kun have relaxed quite a bit, bickering loudly with periodic worried glances at their friend.

"Switch," Touko says, and Shigeru looks up to see she's done with Natsume-kun's hands.

He shuffles around her so she can bandage Satoru-kun's feet and starts to clean Natsume-kun's.

He would like to know what happened to put these boys in such a state, but now isn't the time to ask. There's an energy flowing through him that can only be described as concern. He wants to cry for answers. He wants to get up and confront whoever hurt them. Shigeru has to calm himself and, more importantly, not do anything that will scare them any further.

He gazes blankly past Shigeru's shoulder. He would prefer the myth-like creature that is quiet but sure of himself, even if he's not sure of anyone else, over this traumatized, hurting child.

Natsume-kun has never seemed so human.

  


"I'll eat you!"

He holds his hands over his mouth and breathes slowly through his nose, even as his lungs burn.

"Where are you, miserable human? I'll eat you!"

It's laughter doesn't even send a shiver up his spine.

He's pretty used to them threatening to eat him.

They don't usually _mean_ it quite as much as this one does, though.

He doesn't have any paper, let alone a pen. It wouldn't be as good as something well written with a brush, a properly made seal already existing, but Takashi has made do with less. Maybe he can manage with writing in the dirt?

But that will be a great deal less powerful. He doesn't have the energy to seal or exorcise or banish right now, and he won't until he gets some sleep and maybe some food and water.

He needs a shrine, preferably one with a building to shield him from the coming storm. Ideally, it'll have something edible growing nearby, but he's not keeping his hopes up. He might just have to sleep and pray there's enough distance between him and the monster when he wakes.

"Where'd you go? I'll find you! I'll eat you! You can't hide from me!"

He glimpses some purple-brown fruit hanging from a nearby tree. Haltingly, trying to avoid the notice of the murderous monster, he crawls over and climbs up to a taller branch. He'll be harder to spot here, until it's safer to run and find a shrine, and he has access to food he knows is safe to eat.

It's watery, still, and doesn't have much flavour, so they must not yet be ripe, but it's easy enough to pick them off the branches. He doesn't know what they're called, but he'd been shown to them by a group of smaller youkai he'd accidentally helped in another town, and they fill him up for a while.

He doesn't have a bag to carry anything, so he slips his shirt around his shoulders, tucks as many of the little fruits he can into his self-made pocket, and ties it around his neck to keep them from falling out.

The monster's voice fades, and he runs.

There has to be a shrine _somewhere_. It's the only reason he's stayed in this area for so long - there are shrines all over these mountains, and even with most of them abandoned, they have seals that prevent hungry youkai from reaching him.

It's not safe to stay in one place for too long-

He trips and goes flying.

"I'LL EAT YOU!"

It lunges at him, and he yelps and tries to retreat, but his ankle hurts - of all the stupid-

With a comical splat against an invisible wall, the monster is repelled away.

He sighs with relief. He made it to the shrine.

Takashi doesn't see any building capable of sheltering him, though. Hopefully, there will be one a little further up the stairs. Here, there's just stone statues and rope-

Which is what he'd tripped over.

One of them is broken.

Quiet laughter. His eyes widen. He can't run.

"You've set me free."

  


They stay the night at the Fujiwara's.

He and Sacchan aren't willing to leave Natsume so soon, and they spend the night flanking him, trying to keep him in the present with quiet conversation and funny pictures on their phones.

Natsume's fat cat shows up in the middle of the night, and he seems happy to squeeze it to his chest and let it purr in his lap.

It's a creepy little beast, but Natsume treasures the thing, so Atsushi doesn't have a problem with it.

By the time Natsume insists, with a thin, empty smile, on leaving for home ("Everyone will be worrying about where I am.") they're all exhausted.

Thankfully, it's a Sunday, so they don't have to worry about school. Nishimura's place is closer, so he's going to bunk there.

"Hey, Atsushi?" Sacchan says. He looks like he wants to cry.

"Yeah?"

"Natsume… doesn't hate people, does he?"

Atsushi presses his lips together. "No. Probably not."

They'd misunderstood, when Natsume said he didn't like humans.

Natsume doesn't _hate_ people.

He's afraid of them.

  


They've been led in circles for far too long.

The only ayakashi servants they've managed to capture have been ill-tempered and malicious ones, difficult to force contracts with and even even harder to train.

All others have been let go before they could be contracted, and that's when the traps haven't been disabled before capturing anything. Even the ayakashi they captured and attempted to use as bait escaped, without any sign of another youkai getting near.

From the moment they sought to expand their territory in that direction, the Yatsuhara youkai have been after the Matoba clan, and it cannot continue.

There is an ayakashi there, visible to normal humans and disguised as a boy, but as powerful as it is, it can't completely hide how inhuman it is. That thing can't be allowed to roam freely any longer.

Seiji-sama wants it as his shiki.

Nanase will do what she has to, to ensure it happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already decided not to make an official pairing for this, since there isn't going to be enough time or room in the plot for one to develop, and it would end up mostly a meaningless side-note. Of course, as soon as I decided that, Natsume and Nishimura decided to start flirting.
> 
> Kitamoto: Natsume must be blushing because he's a youkai.
> 
> Someone help these idiots.
> 
> Also! The fruit is figs. They can be pretty filling, and I don't think they're great, but I don't hate them when they're fresh. (Processed figs can take a dive into Orodruin.)


End file.
